And here I am a day later finishing up my reviews of the latest (really big) issue of Augur Magazine. This one has something of a treat, too, because on top of the two short stories and two poems, there’s a graphic story as well, which brings some vivid colors and imagery to look at in all it’s pretty while maintaining that feeling of complex and careful work within SFF. The stories are strong, atmospheric, moody, and creepy at times. The poems are alive with movement and defiance. And the graphic story brings it all home, closing out the issue with a thought on cycles, a fitting end for a publication that will, after all, be out with a new issue in due time. So there is no real end, no real beginning, but it’s all pretty great all the same. To the reviews!
More Augur Magazine! Having tackled six SFF works last time, my next installments will cover 5 each. This one takes on two new short stories and three new poems, for works that take on some unsettling and difficult themes but still know how to inspire, challenge, and entertain. The stories tend toward the grimmer side of the works, drawing situations of familial loss, where women are put in situations of having to face old injustices, old wounds, all the while opening news ones. For all the works tend toward bleak, though, I think both do leave room for hope, but a hope that needs to be worked for, that isn’t necessarily going to be easy. And the poetry is a lovely mix of moods and tunes, forms and patterns. But it makes for a continuation on a wonderful issue, and I’ll get right to my reviews!
And I’m back to finish up my review of the August issue of Anathema Magazine, this time looking at the second half--three short stories and one poem. And there is a sense here of broken connections. Of characters whose ties have been severed in important ways. Ways that leave them seeking things. Revenge, in a few cases. Or closure, at the very least. To break free from cycles of violence. Or to continue them. To push back against silence, but also to express grief and loss and all the messy, complicated emotions that people can feel. It’s a wonderful collection of SFF work, and I’ll get right to my reviews!
I’m back yet again to finish up my look at the third issue of Translunar Travelers Lounge! This final section is title Charon Blend (Dark Chocolate Rooibos) and is described as “velvet-smooth, with a rich, complex flavor that lingers on the palate.” And the works definitely have depth, taking on the idea of stories and the shapes of traditional narratives, and challenging them. And they deal with characters who kind of thought they had things figured out...and then something happens that shatters them. That makes them re-examine the shape and trajectory of their lives. And prompts them to reach for change and affirmation. It’s a fantastic way to close what has been an amazing issue, and I’ll get right to the reviews!
Okay, I’m back looking at the latest issue of Translunar Travelers Lounge! This third installment of the third issue of the publication looks at the section titled “Dione Blend (Assam): notes of spice and smoke; a striking scarlet color.” The scarlet isn’t of blood, though. It might be for passion. Or determination. The three stories find characters undertaking quests of different sorts. Difficult trials. For some that means traveling great distances, overcome great challenges (often with the help of some compassionate people). For others that means doing something that is intensely personally difficult, like letting down one’s defenses enough to take a risk and reach of the stars. Whatever the case, these are stories that mix risk and reward, that border sorrow and hope, and that I’ll get to reviewing right now!
Finally I’m getting to the end of my initial reviews of things released on the last day of September. There will definitely be spillover into at least next month, but today I’m looking at the first part of the extra-huge latest issue of Augur Magazine, which has been quiet on the release front since December. They make up for the absence with 16 different pieces, spread over fiction, poetry, and graphic fiction. Today I’m looking at the first three stories and three poems, which build up a rather grim thematic feel centering loss and grief. With characters who are imprisoned in various ways, either literally or more metaphorically. It’s not an easy bunch of works to approach, and readers will do well to mind the various content warnings posted before the stories. But it’s a beautiful start to what is shaping up to be a fantastic issue, and I’ll jump right into my reviews!
So there’s a special 20th anniversary issue of Strange Horizons out! Happy anniversary!!! Now, I debated with myself a while how to actually handle the issue, because it’s not a usual one. Instead of original fiction and poetry, the issue features stories pulled from Strange Horizons’ past issues, plus some brand new poetry. I’ve decided to cover the (technically reprint) fiction in this case alongside the poetry mostly because I am super curious to check out what made the cut for this extra special issue. Now, that said, I’m not looking at the Wiggins story because I reviewed it when it originally came out. The rest of the bunch were before my time as a reviewer, though, and are all super great. So is the poetry, by the way. But before I bore you to tears, let’s get right to the reviews!
After a rather long pause, Omenana is back with a new issue! Six stories and some nonfiction round out the offerings and provide a vivid tour of African-centered SFF with a mix of genres and characters and feels. From philosophical to deeply intimate, the stories build situations that push readers to challenge their assumptions and deepen their thinking. They’re at turns fun and charming, grim and difficult. There’s a great variety of speculative visions on display, and it comes into a whole that looks at freedom and exploitation, hope and despair. And I’ll get right to me reviews!
It’s time for a new issue of Ananthema! I’m breaking the issue up for I’m-very-tired reasons, but that still means I’m looking at two stories and a poem (I’ll be back for the other three stories and a poem next month). The works are vivid and full of characters willing to take chances. It might be to pursue their dreams. It might be to escape an abusive situation. But the characters are motivated, pushing themselves to exhaustion and beyond, and reaching for something affirming and beautiful. It’s never easy, but getting to the future never is, and the works explore how these characters survive and thrive despite dangers and those that want to see them fail. To the reviews!
August brings two short stories and one novelette to Tor dot com. The works are by no means easy, dealing with issues of historical erasure and genocide, sexual assault and toxic gender roles, and capitalist exploitation and ecological devastation. There’s a mix of deep space science fiction, more terrestrial or near-terrestrial climate science fiction, and a touch of contemporary fantasy thrown in for good measure. And characters have to face their own roles in the problems they face, the abuses and injustices that are going on around them. That they are often victims of, even as they become co-opted into continuing the harm. It’s a solid bunch of works, and I’ll get right to the reviews!
The latest issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies offers up two short stories that deal very much with memories and with the stubbornness of those in power when faced with an inevitable and dangerous problem that is killing people. In both, the narrators have to deal with being expected to fix a problem that’s become hard baked into the fabric of a place they think of as home. Where actually fixing it would mean breaking it, making it something different from what it was. It also requires the power to actually do something, which only one of the characters actually has. Not that it’s easy. Not that both won’t sacrifice trying to do the right thing. These are two lovely and wrenching stories, and I’ll get to my reviews!
It’s been a little while since I’ve reviewed a new PodCastle, with the publication focusing more on reprints and flash back posts for the last little while. But the publication is back with at blast with two new stories that deal with grief and cycles of death and remembrance. In one of the stories, a veteran deals with the weight of what he carries, the expectations put on him, but also the secret pull he feels, the moon he’s looking for that will allow him to transform and give howling voice to the pain he otherwise must hide. In the other, a man deals with the intersections of his faith and his family, the desire to honor a parent against the realities of a system designed to reward those who live “complete” lives. There’s a heavy feel to these stories but also a sense of release and freedom, and I’ll get right to the reviews!
The August issue of Fireside Magazine contains four short stories and a bunch of nonfiction (which I won’t be covering but do recommend you check out). The stories are all…far from easy things. There is a sense of confinement that runs through the issue, a sense of decline and suffocation. There are people literally imprisoned, either by a corrupt government in the past or a possibly dystopic government in the future. There are people finding their lives sinking, unable to pull back from their descent. There is loss. There is the prospect of more loss to come. The stories are, again, not easy, but they’re also rewarding and quite good, and I’ll get right to my reviews!
Today I’m looking at two recent issues of Strange Horizons, which have put out one story and two poems (and a bunch of reviews and nonfiction that I won’t be looking at here but that I recommend people check out). The story looks at extinction and profession, secrets and power. It finds a scientist kind of trying to fit in, and then finding that she doesn’t really have to. The issues also feature poems that wrap around powerlessness and transformation, dominated by settings that define the work and growth that they contain. That shape the paths people can take, limiting them in some profound and unsettling ways. It’s a great two issues, and I’ll get right to the reviews!
I’m back! Yes, it’s only been a day since I reviewed the first section of the latest Translunar Travelers Lounge, but schedules are weird and I am happy to return right away for the second section, which is the Luna Blend (Jasmine). And Uncle Iroh would be proud of the selection of stories here, which are warm and heartfelt but know how to have some fun. There are shadows, moments of sadness and loss, but always a smile as well, and an earnest laugh. There’s a bit of sci fi, a lot of fantasy, and some nice twists of horror (nothing too grim, though), and it all blends together into something, well, as the publication says, “subtle in scent and sweet in flavor.” To the reviews!
It’s a new Translunar Travelers Lounge! As always, these issues are BIG. This one has 14(!) stories in it, and as such I’m not going to be getting to it all this month. Instead, I’m breaking up my review based on the four different sections of the publication, here grouped by “blends.” The first is Metis Blend (Yerba-Maté), which is described as “a little get-up-and-go; strong, pleasantly bitter.” And it certain delivers, giving four stories that are fun, bright, but cut with a little sarcasm, a little heart, and a whole lot of good. So let’s get to the reviews!
August brings two new stories to Diabolical Plots, and both focus on narrators who have been shaped by the perceptions of others. One, a superhero who is altered based on how other see him, and especially based on racist stereotypes. He has to navigate the push and pull of racism and trying to stay safe while also trying to be a role model for his daughter. The other is shaped more by time, a victim of violence who wants to escape the prison, the gutter that has become their world. But they are seen as a monster, worthy of annihilation, and must deal with their desire meeting the fear they provoke. Both characters, though, find a kind of release and freedom through someone who sees through the outer layers and into their hearts. And before I give too much away, I’ll get to those reviews!
The second month of Baffling Magazine brings two (very short) short stories for your enjoyment! Both are fairly dense, fairly sinking works, about characters dealing with a kind of relentless pressure, both figurative and, it seems, physical. They are dealing with loss and erasure, with grief and destruction. They straddle genres, the first more of an underwater science fiction and the second a dream-like piece of weird. It’s a bold second salvo from the new publication, but it works for me, showing definite lean toward short, sharp, and strange. To the reviews!
The latest issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies brings two rather long novelettes that look at groups of...not exactly law abiding people who sort of fall into the position where they have to save the world. Who have to uncover the corruptions plaguing their worlds. For one, it’s a spy and courier who is pulled into a much larger intrigue. For the other, it’s a group of hero hunters who hear about the possible return of a person who could destroy armies and nations, and might be fixing to do just that. It’s a wonderful issue, and I’ll get right to my reviews!
There’s a new issue of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly out, featuring three new short stories, one novelette, and one poem. And the works cover a nice range of fantasy, from much more historical stories with only touches of maybe-magic, to full blown second world affairs filled with strange magics. From mythological rewrites to strange myth-like tales of talking animals and walking Nightmares. It’s a wonderful issue, with spills, chills, mysteries, and even a spot of romance, and I’ll get right to my reviews!
